If only it were that simple! Unfortunately, it's not. The bottom line is whether customers will be confused as to whether your goods are coming from the other trademark owner.
To help understand why the 10% is unrealistic, consider how you would measure the 10%. If you put a cola in a red can with a white swoosh which is 10% thinner than the Coke swoosh, do you think Coca-Cola will leave you alone and let you sell those? Do you think customers might actually mistake your cans for Coca-Cola's? And is that 10% different? They might argue that more than 90% of the can is the same red, so it's not even 10% different. What if the white swoosh is the same size but the red is 10% lighter or darker? Do you think Coca-Cola will leave you alone then?
The bottom line is that you can't simplify it that much. It comes down to confusion in the marketplace, and that's a much more complex standard. And, you should always consider that, if you want to avoid being sued, that you have to avoid what the trademark owner would consider an infringement, not just an actual infringement. If you don't mind being sued as long as you win in court, you can take more chances with what the trademark owner thinks and satisfy yourself vis-a-vis likelihood of confusion. I think 10% is far too little to avoid annoying a trademark owner.
I hope that clarifies things for you.
Best regards.
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Topic: ?Trademark 10% (Read 2263 times)
